Daniel Geschwind
{{Short description|American geneticist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Daniel H. Geschwind
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| fields = Human genetics, neurogenetics
| workplaces = University of California, Los Angeles
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| alma_mater = Dartmouth College, Yale School of Medicine
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| doctoral_advisor = Susan Hockfield
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| awards = {{ubl|Derek Denny-Brown Neurological Scholar Award from the American Neurological Association (2004)|member of the Institute of Medicine{{Cite web |url=http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/activities/research/neuroforum/member%20profiles/daniel%20geschwind.aspx |title=Daniel Geschwind |website=NAM Member Profiles}}|Sarnat Prize (2022)}}
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Daniel H. Geschwind is an American physician-scientist whose laboratory has made pioneering discoveries in the biology of brain disorders and the genetic and genomic analyses of the nervous system.
His laboratory showed that gene co-expression has a reproducible network structure that can be used to understand neurobiological mechanisms in health, evolution, and disease.{{Cite journal |last1=Winden |first1=Kellen D. |last2=Oldham |first2=Michael C. |last3=Mirnics |first3=Karoly |last4=Ebert |first4=Philip J. |last5=Swan |first5=Christo H. |last6=Levitt |first6=Pat |last7=Rubenstein |first7=John L. |last8=Horvath |first8=Steve |last9=Geschwind |first9=Daniel H. |date=2009 |title=The organization of the transcriptional network in specific neuronal classes |journal=Molecular Systems Biology |volume=5 |pages=291 |doi=10.1038/msb.2009.46 |issn=1744-4292 |pmc=2724976 |pmid=19638972}}{{Cite journal |last1=Oldham |first1=Michael C. |last2=Horvath |first2=Steve |last3=Geschwind |first3=Daniel H. |date=2006-11-21 |title=Conservation and evolution of gene coexpression networks in human and chimpanzee brains |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=103 |issue=47 |pages=17973–17978 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0605938103 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=1693857 |pmid=17101986|bibcode=2006PNAS..10317973O }}{{Cite journal |last1=Oldham |first1=Michael C. |last2=Konopka |first2=Genevieve |last3=Iwamoto |first3=Kazuya |last4=Langfelder |first4=Peter |last5=Kato |first5=Tadafumi |last6=Horvath |first6=Steve |last7=Geschwind |first7=Daniel H. |date=November 2008 |title=Functional organization of the transcriptome in human brain |journal=Nature Neuroscience |volume=11 |issue=11 |pages=1271–1282 |doi=10.1038/nn.2207 |issn=1546-1726 |pmc=2756411 |pmid=18849986}} He led the first studies to define the molecular pathology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and several other psychiatric disorders,{{Cite journal |last1=Gandal |first1=Michael J. |last2=Zhang |first2=Pan |last3=Hadjimichael |first3=Evi |last4=Walker |first4=Rebecca L. |last5=Chen |first5=Chao |last6=Liu |first6=Shuang |last7=Won |first7=Hyejung |last8=van Bakel |first8=Harm |last9=Varghese |first9=Merina |last10=Wang |first10=Yongjun |last11=Shieh |first11=Annie W. |last12=Haney |first12=Jillian |last13=Parhami |first13=Sepideh |last14=Belmont |first14=Judson |last15=Kim |first15=Minsoo |date=2018-12-14 |title=Transcriptome-wide isoform-level dysregulation in ASD, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder |journal=Science |volume=362 |issue=6420 |pages=eaat8127 |doi=10.1126/science.aat8127 |issn=1095-9203 |pmc=6443102 |pmid=30545856|bibcode=2018Sci...362.8127G }}{{Cite journal |last1=Parikshak |first1=Neelroop N. |last2=Swarup |first2=Vivek |last3=Belgard |first3=T. Grant |last4=Irimia |first4=Manuel |last5=Ramaswami |first5=Gokul |last6=Gandal |first6=Michael J. |last7=Hartl |first7=Christopher |last8=Leppa |first8=Virpi |last9=Ubieta |first9=Luis de la Torre |last10=Huang |first10=Jerry |last11=Lowe |first11=Jennifer K. |last12=Blencowe |first12=Benjamin J. |last13=Horvath |first13=Steve |last14=Geschwind |first14=Daniel H. |date=2016-12-15 |title=Genome-wide changes in lncRNA, splicing, and regional gene expression patterns in autism |journal=Nature |volume=540 |issue=7633 |pages=423–427 |doi=10.1038/nature20612 |issn=1476-4687 |pmc=7102905 |pmid=27919067|bibcode=2016Natur.540..423P }}{{Cite journal |last1=Voineagu |first1=Irina |last2=Wang |first2=Xinchen |last3=Johnston |first3=Patrick |last4=Lowe |first4=Jennifer K. |last5=Tian |first5=Yuan |last6=Horvath |first6=Steve |last7=Mill |first7=Jonathan |last8=Cantor |first8=Rita M. |last9=Blencowe |first9=Benjamin J. |last10=Geschwind |first10=Daniel H. |date=2011-05-25 |title=Transcriptomic analysis of autistic brain reveals convergent molecular pathology |journal=Nature |volume=474 |issue=7351 |pages=380–384 |doi=10.1038/nature10110 |issn=1476-4687 |pmc=3607626 |pmid=21614001}} and has made major contributions to defining the genetic basis of autism.{{Cite web |date=2009-02-17 |title=Daniel Geschwind: After many detours, on the trail of autism's genetics |url=https://www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/daniel-geschwind-after-many-detours-on-the-trail-of-autisms-genetics/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2012-11-07 |title=Dr. Daniel Geschwind Receives 2012 Ruane Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Autism Research |url=https://bbrfoundation.org/content/dr-daniel-geschwind-receives-2012-ruane-prize-outstanding-achievement-autism-research |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=Dr. Daniel Geschwind Receives 2012 Ruane Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Autism Research {{!}} Brain & Behavior Research Foundation |language=en}}
Currently, he is the Gordon and Virginia MacDonald Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics, Neurology and Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He also directs the UCLA Neurogenetics Program and the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART).{{cite web | url=https://people.healthsciences.ucla.edu/institution/personnel?personnel_id=8903 | title=Daniel H. Geschwind | work=UCLA Website | accessdate=12 February 2018}} Since March 2016 he has served as the Senior Associate Dean and Associate Vice Chancellor for Precision Health at UCLA.{{cite web | url=http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/daniel-geschwind-to-head-all-precision-medicine-efforts-in-health-system-medical-school | title=Daniel H. Geschwind | work=UCLA Newsroom | accessdate= 17 May 2016}}
Education and career
Geschwind received his A.B. degree in psychology and chemistry at Dartmouth College, and his MD/PhD at Yale School of Medicine under the supervision of Susan Hockfield, graduating Alpha Omega Alpha.{{Cite web |title=Daniel Geschwind – UCLA Graduate Programs in Bioscience (GPB) |url=https://bioscience.ucla.edu/people/daniel-geschwind/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |language=en-US}}{{cite web|url=https://www.alleninstitute.org/our-institute/advisors/profiles/daniel-geschwind/ |title=Daniel Geschwind |work=Allen Institute for Brain Science |accessdate=5 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210200321/https://www.alleninstitute.org/our-institute/advisors/profiles/daniel-geschwind/ |archivedate=10 December 2014 }} He then completed an internship in internal medicine and residency in neurology at UCLA. He has been a member of the UCLA faculty since 1997.
He has trained over 70 graduate students and post-doctoral research fellows,{{Cite web |date=2023-04-05 |title=Alumni |url=https://geschwindlab.com/members/alumni/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=The Geschwind Lab at UCLA |language=en-US}} and is among the highest cited scientists in neurology, neuroscience, systems biology, and precision health (H index > 195).{{Cite web |title=Dan Geschwind |url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0GdjrfYAAAAJ&hl=en |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=scholar.google.com}} He has been named in Clarivate Analytics’ Highly Cited Researchers list each year since 2017{{cite web |title=Highly Cited Researchers List 2017 - Top Researchers Around the World |url=https://clarivate.com/hcr/2017-researchers-list/ |accessdate=8 October 2018 |website=clarivate.com}} and has been elected as member of the National Academy of Medicine and the Association of American Physicians.{{cite web |title=Geschwind |url=https://geschwindlab.dgsom.ucla.edu/pages/pi |website=geschwindlab.dgsom.ucla.edu |accessdate=8 October 2018 |language=en}}
Research
The Geschwind Lab at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine conducts research into three areas: autism and neurodevelopmental disorders, neurodegenerative syndromes, and human brain evolution.{{cite web |title=The Geschwind Lab |url=https://geschwindlab.dgsom.ucla.edu/pages/ |website=geschwindlab.dgsom.ucla.edu |accessdate=8 October 2018 |language=en}} The overarching goal of Geschwind's work is to develop a more mechanistic understanding of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases by integrative analyses that connect human genetic variation to genes and neurobiological pathways.
Through functional genomics and large-scale data analyses that permit a more unbiased understanding of disease mechanisms, his laboratory's research has improved our understanding of human brain evolution and language, ASD and schizophrenia, repair of the damaged nervous system and neurodegenerative dementias including Frontotemporal Dementia, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and Alzheimer's disease. Together these studies have not only improved understanding of human brain disorders, but they also highlight the power of highly-parallel, high-throughput biology.{{Cite web |date=2022-02-27 |title=Daniel Geschwind, MD, PhD |url=https://medschool.ucla.edu/people/daniel-geschwind-md-phd |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=UCLA Med School |language=en}}
Geschwind established the modern era of autism genetics research by developing and leading the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE){{Cite journal |last1=Geschwind |first1=Daniel H. |last2=Sowinski |first2=Janice |last3=Lord |first3=Catherine |last4=Iversen |first4=Portia |last5=Shestack |first5=Jonathan |last6=Jones |first6=Patrick |last7=Ducat |first7=Lee |last8=Spence |first8=Sarah J. |date=August 2001 |title=The Autism Genetic Resource Exchange: A Resource for the Study of Autism and Related Neuropsychiatric Conditions |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=69 |issue=2 |pages=463–466 |doi=10.1086/321292 |issn=0002-9297 |pmc=1235320 |pmid=11452364}} with the Cure Autism Now Foundation in 1997. AGRE was the first major community resource for genetic research on autism spectrum disorder (ASD), making biomaterials and phenotype data accessible to researchers worldwide. This initiative opened the field to many more researchers and led to significant discoveries, including the role of rare mutations and inherited genetic variation in ASD. He is an advocate for data sharing and led many national efforts, including PsychENCODE consortium, a public genomic data resource for mental health research. Over the last 10 years, he has led efforts with collaborators, including John Constantino and Ami Klin, to increase the representation of groups that have been historically underrepresented in autism research, via an NIH-funded Autism Center of Excellence Network that recruits African Americans with autism.
His work in autism genetics and functional genomics has been highly influential by translating genetic findings into biological understanding. He developed the concept of ASD as a developmental disconnection syndrome, recognizing its extreme heterogeneity and framing it as “the autisms.” Geschwind pioneered the study of language and social endophenotypes in genetic studies and demonstrated how transcriptomic and epigenetic profiling could define the molecular pathology of ASD and other neuropsychiatric disorders. In 2011, he was the senior author of a study that identified chemical differences between the brains of people with autism and those without it.{{Cite web |title=Brains of people with autism spectrum disorder share similar molecular abnormalities |url=https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/brains-of-people-with-autism-spectrum-disorder-share-similar-molecular-abnormalities |access-date=2024-10-21 |website=UCLA |language=en-us}} Specifically, the study found common patterns in gene expression in the frontal and temporal lobes of autistic individuals. Geschwind has published research on numerous genes involved in language and human brain evolution, such as FOXP2, and how they differ between humans and chimpanzees. Additionally, Geschwind is known for his research into factors affecting handedness and the differences in brain structure between left-handed and right-handed people.
Personal life
His brother, Michael Geschwind, is also a professor of neurology. Norman Geschwind, a pioneer in behavioral neurology, is his father's first cousin. From 1965 to 1982, his father, Stanley Geschwind, served as the head of the Quantum and Solid-State Physics Department at Bell Labs.{{cite book |author=Wolman, David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WlNT6BFVCZoC&pg=PA195 |title=A Left Hand Turn Around the World |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=2006 |isbn=9780786734979 |pages=195}}{{Cite journal |last=Geschwind |first=Michael D. |date=29 May 2010 |title=Are you Related to "the Geschwind?" |journal=Neuropsychology Review |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=123–125 |doi=10.1007/s11065-010-9135-9 |issn=1040-7308 |pmc=2881317 |pmid=20512417}}
Awards and prizes
- 2024 Distinguished Clinical Research Scholar and Educator in Residence, NIH{{Cite web |last=Duran |first=Janice |title=Decoding the Brain: Insights into Neuropsychiatric Disorders |url=https://www.cc.nih.gov/about/news/newsletter/2024/jul-aug/newsletterstory-09}}
- 2022 Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health from the National Academy of Medicine{{cite press release |last1=Lewis |first1=Talia |title=Daniel H. Geschwind Receives National Academy of Medicine's Sarnat Prize for Contributions to Understanding of the Genetics of Autism |url=https://nam.edu/daniel-h-geschwind-receives-national-academy-of-medicines-sarnat-prize-for-contributions-to-understanding-of-the-genetics-of-autism/ |access-date=22 September 2022 |work=National Academy of Medicine |date=15 September 2022}}
- 2022 Cotzias Award and Lecture, American Academy of Neurology{{Cite web |title=Daniel Geschwind, M.D., Ph.D. – UCLA Brain Research Institute (BRI) |url=https://bri.ucla.edu/people/daniel-geschwind/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |language=en-US}}
- 2021 Gold Medal, Society for Biological Psychiatry{{Cite web |title=Society of Biological Psychiatry Gold Medal Award {{!}} Society of Biological Psychiatry |url=https://sobp.org/society-of-biological-psychiatry-gold-medal-award/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |language=en-US}}
- 2015 Paul G Allen Distinguished Investigator Award{{Cite web |title=Distinguished Investigators |url=https://alleninstitute.org/division/frontiers-group/distinguished-investigators/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=Allen Institute |language=en-US}}
- 2012 Ruane Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Research from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
- 2011 Elected Member, National Academy of Medicine
- 2008 Scientific Service Award from Autism Speaks{{Cite web |title=Daniel H. Geschwind, MD - Neurodevelopmental Disorders |url=https://www.uclahealth.org/providers/daniel-geschwind |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=www.uclahealth.org |language=en}}
- 2006 NIH MERIT Award{{Cite web |title=Daniel Geschwind {{!}} UCLA Profiles |url=https://profiles.ucla.edu/daniel.geschwind |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=profiles.ucla.edu}}
- 2004 Derek Denny-Brown Neurological Scholar Award from the American Neurological Association
References
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Category:American neuroscientists
Category:Dartmouth College alumni
Category:Members of the National Academy of Medicine
Category:David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA faculty